Operation Paperclip was the program by which the CIA’s predecessor brought Nazi scientists to the United States after World War II. John Kiriakou notes the FBI opposed it, but the CIA — already looking ahead to the Soviet threat — welcomed them; the Nazis gave themselves up to the Americans precisely because they were “petrified of the Russians” and calculated the U.S. would “lay out the red carpet.”[1][2] The denazification process, he says, became a formality one could pay through. Wernher von Braun, father of the V-2 rocket, went on to NASA and is buried in Alexandria, Virginia, near Kiriakou’s home.[3][4]
Operation Paperclip
The program by which the CIA's predecessor brought Nazi scientists to the United States after World War II; John Kiriakou notes the FBI opposed it, that the Nazis surrendered to the U.S. fearing the Soviets, and that V-2 rocket father Wernher von Braun is buried near his home in Virginia.
References
- ↑ Austin and Matt, 2026-02-12 — 38:03 on YouTube · Transcript
- ↑ Austin and Matt, 2026-02-12 — 38:29 on YouTube · Transcript
- ↑ Austin and Matt, 2026-02-12 — 39:00 on YouTube · Transcript
- ↑ Austin and Matt, 2026-02-12 — 39:31 on YouTube · Transcript
Categories: Operations